The Last Stretch

OMG, we only have less than a month to go before our wedding day! To be exact, we only have 26 days left! I'm nervous yet excited at the same time. :)

Remember our list from our previous countdown? Well, we were able to accomplish all of them in the past couple of months. Good job to us!

• Finalize our ento list. - We were finally able to finalize not just our ento list, but also our liturgical participants for the mass. We already notified them about their roles so they won't be surprised during
• Finalize our Principal Sponsors. - My mother already told our chosen principal sponsors about our wedding, and luckily all of them accepted our invitation.
• Complete wedding documents. - We finally fixed all problems in our baptismal and confirmation certificates, so everything was a-OK. In fact, submitted all the necessary documents to Ms. Dodo yesterday.
• Have canonical interview. -We finished this last January 23. It was just a short interview; nothing to be worried about.
• File for marriage license. - We got our marriage license 11 days after we applied in Marikina.
• Finalize gown design for MIL. -We originally wanted to get Paolo Blanco to do my MIL's gown, but since he wasn't replying to any of my messages, we had to look for an alternative. Luckily, we found Ven Ocampo. Mox was the one who did all the transactions with her. She said the beadings on the gown are almost complete and she will deliver the gown next week.
• Renew passport. - I renewed my passport at the DFA office in SM Megamall. Finally, I now have a passport picture that looks okay. Haha.

Aside from those mentioned above, we were also able to cross out these tasks from our list.

•  Attend the pre-cana seminar. - We attended the two-day seminar at Christ the King Church last February 8 to 9. We had a lot of fun during the seminar, even though it took great effort for us to wake up so early in the morning.
•  First and second fitting of my bridal gown. - I was really looking forward to fitting my gown, and Gretchen did not disappoint me. Even though my gown is still unfinished, I could tell it will be beautiful! I just love it! Best part of all, Gretchen told me I lost weight. Yey!
• First fitting of Mox's suit. - Mox had his measurements taken by Emil during one of the bridal fairs. Three weeks after, his suit was ready for fitting. Ang bilis diba? Mox upgraded his suit because he fell in love with this shiny grey suit that he saw in Emil's booth during the bridal fair.
• Meeting with OTD. - Mox and I met with Thoffy last February to discuss the suppliers that we booked. We also created a draft program for the reception just so we can have an idea on how many prizes we should buy.
• Final food tasting with Purpledish - We had our final food tasting with Purpledish to determine our menu for the wedding. Syempre, busog lusog nanaman kami ni Mox.
• Detailing with Purpledish - Aside from our final food tasting, we also had our detailing with Purpledish. I was not so sure what to ask during our detailing, but luckily, our coordinator there to help us during the meeting. I also had some powerpoint presentations that my W@Wie friends sent me as references. After the detailing, I created my own presentation, which I then emailed to my AE. OC kung OC.
• Meet with Composed Band. - We also met with Dianne of Composed Band to create our song list for the wedding. I also asked Wil, Mox's best man, to come along because he is more knowledgeable when it comes to music since he is also part of a band. We even requested them to play for us during the after party!
• Buy barongs for Mox's family. - At first, we thought of buying RTW for Mox's family, but then we decided to have them custom-made. So Mox contacted Rey Casedo to have him make the barongs for his family. After two weeks, Mang Rey delivered the barongs. Ang bilis!
• Do all layouts for the wedding stationery. - Mox was finally able to finish all the layouts for the menu cards, place cards, missalette covers, table number and invitations. Now all we have to do is print them.
• Buy PS souvenirs. - This was originally not part of our budget, but we decided to give our ninongs and ninangs a little token of appreciation so we tried searching for affordable gifts. We attended the Themes and Motifs bridal fair and found a supplier of non-alcoholic fruit wines. Mox loved the taste of the wine so we immediately bought a dozen, of which eight will be given to the PS, while the remaining four will be used during the ceremonial toast.
• Distribute invitations. - Yes, we finally distributed the invites! In fact, we were able to create a draft of our final guest list because we put our RSVP date a month before our wedding. Most of our guests were able to give their response during this time so we already had an idea on our initial headcount. I'll confirm with our guests about their attendance two weeks before the wedding just in case they'll change their mind.

 So for our last month of preps, here are the things that we still need to do.

• Buy offertory items.
• Buy wedding accessories
• Buy prizes for games
• Print missalettes, madlib cards and place cards
• Pack giveaways
• Buy lingerie for couple's boudoir.
• Handover meeting with OTD
• Practice for first dance

Whew! We can do this! Last stretch baby!

100 Days To Go!

Today marks our 100-day countdown. Can't believe we have a little over three months to go before our big day. Nakakatense!

We have made major progress in our preps since the start of the year. We did our prenup photo shoot, secured some of the required wedding documents, and even finalized the layout of our invitations. But I'm feeling the pressure now because I've seen our checklist and there are still a lot of things to do! Waaah!

Here are some of the items that need to be checked off our list before the month ends:

• Finalize our ento list. - We have already made several changes in our line-up because some of our chosen entourage in abroad still can't say whether or not they could come home for our wedding.
• Finalize our Principal Sponsors. - This is actually one of the more difficult tasks because we are having a hard time choosing our principal sponsors! Konti lang kasi talaga yung kaclose namin  na pwede eh. But we already have some names in mind, so we just have to ask them if they're willing to be our ninong and ninang.
• Complete wedding documents. - We already secured our baptismal and confirmation certificates. We plan to pass them this Saturday before our canonical interview.
• Have canonical interview. - We are scheduled to have our canonical interview on January 23. I don't know what to expect so I guess I have to review my old C.L.E. notes in case the priest will ask us about the 10 Commandments or the Sacraments.
• File for marriage license. - We need to secure Mox's cedula first, but afterwards, we will go to the Marikina City Hall to file for our marriage license.
• Finalize gown design for MIL. - We have to go to Paolo Blanco to finalize the design of my mother-in-law's gown. She'll have her measurements taken by a seamstress in La Union, and will just send them to me.
• Renew passport. - My passport expires in December, but I have to renew my passport before our honeymoon in June or else I wouldn't be allow to travel.

Now here is our schedule for the next month:

ACTIVITY	TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
First fitting of bridal gown	First week of February 2014
Pre-cana seminar	First week of February 2014 (February 8-9)
Meeting with OTD	First or second week of February 2014
Detailing with caterer	First or second week of February 2014
Measurement taking for groom's suit	Second week of February 2014
Buy barongs and flower girl dress for ento	Second week of February 2014
Create song list and meet with Composed Band	Third week of February 2014
Do all DIYS and other stationaries (menu card, place card, etc.)	Third week of February 2014
Distribute invitations	Fourth week of February 2014

Whew! I predict that the next months will be very, very busy. We can do this!

Six Months To Go!

And now we're down to our last six months! I can't believe that we're finally nearing the finish line, after almost two years of preparations. Nakakaexcite at nakakapressure na!

We're slowly getting back on track with our preps after being so relaxed about it for the past months. We haven't booked any new suppliers yet, although we made several changes on our lineup. Blame this on my being fickle-minded. Haha

• Church: Christ the King Church
• Reception Venue: Christ the King Parish Hall
• Photographer: Osep&Mimi
• Videographer: Aisle 1401
• OTD Coordinator: Events by Thoffy Consulta (formerly The One Exclusive)
• Caterer: Purpledish Catering
• Bridal Gown: Gretchen Pichay
• Mothers' Gowns: Paolo Blanco (to book for FMIL's gown)
• Groom's Suit: Emil Ocampo
• Wedding Shoes: Roweliza Shoes
• Bridal HMUA: Style Me Beautiful by Berny Tia
• Ento HMUA: Jen Gumban of Elitista Basement
• Florist: Cheri Handicrafts
• Wedding Rings: Suarez Wedding Rings
• Wedding Cake: Hearts and Bells Cake Artistry
• Photobooth: Clip Photobooth
• Lights and Sounds: Rejectkrew
• Musicians (Church and Reception): Composed Band
• Mobile Bar: GQ Mobile Bar
• Candy Buffet: Gracious Favors
• Prenup Stylist: Aira Franco
• Postnup Photographer: Manny and April Photography

Not only that, we were also able to do another freenup with Chasing Tales Photography, as well as shoot our prenup video with Aisle 1401. Plus, we also booked tickets to Kota Kinabalu for our honeymoon. Whee!

We still need to book some suppliers though:

• Fathers' Suit: We plan to rent made-to-order suits from Gardini for my and Mox's fathers.
• Flower Girls' Gowns: We might book Gina Bruce of Marikina Market Mall for the girls' gowns.
• Hotel for Preps: We have to visit the hotels first, but we're eyeing Astoria Plaza for our hotel.
• LCD Projector and Screen: Thoffy suggested a supplier for this, although I forgot his name. I'll just ask him about this again.

Right now, we are currently preparing for our prenup shoot with Osep&Mimi next month. We already had our pre-production meeting with Aira Franco, our prenup stylist, and conducted an ocular visit to Wawa Dam. We still have to shop for the required clothes for the shoot, but at least we already completed at least two looks in the lookboard that Aira sent.

After the prenup shoot, Mox will continue to do the layout for our invites. We plan to print and assemble the invites ourselves so we definitely need to finish the layout by November so we wouldn't be too pressed for time in case we need to make some changes to the invites.

And since we have six months left before our wedding, we can now get some of the required church documents. Most of these documents have a 120-day validity period, but there are others that can be ordered within six months before the wedding. These include:

• CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage)
• Baptismal Certificate (with annotation "for Marriage Purposes")
• Confirmation Certificate (with annotation "for Marriage Purposes")

Some say that other churches require the baptismal and confirmation certificates to be given three months before the wedding, so I suggest to check with your respective church if this is the case. For Christ the King, they allow the certificates to be ordered six months before the wedding, so that means I can get ours already. At least I can cross that off our list as early as now. Yey!

Anyway, I'll update you about our progress in the next coming days. Happy preps!

Let the One Year Countdown Begin!

After almost 1.5 years of waiting, we have finally reached the last 12 months of our wedding preps! :)

The road to our one-year countdown was a bumpy one; we had a few ups and downs, with lots of arguments in between. Haha! Still, I am happy with what we have accomplished. Imagine, we still have one year to prepare, and yet we have already booked most, if not all, of our major suppliers. We even did one prenup shoot and I had not one, but two boudoir shoots! :)

So we're taking things slow for now. We still have some suppliers to book, DIY projects to make and a few details to be finalized, but we are not in a hurry to do these things. After more than a year of rushing to do wedding preps, I guess it's time now to just relax and enjoy everything, especially since Mox has finally came to his senses and would now help me in our wedding preps. Haha!

Right now, the next thing in our agenda is to have Mox finalize his guest list. He has the difficult task of trimming down his guests to only about 90. Good luck na lang sa kanya. Gusto niya kasi imbitahan ang buong mundo eh. Haha! In the meantime, I have scheduled an appointment for tomorrow to fit some gowns in Mi Sueno Bridal Boutique just to see which silhouette best fits me. Can't wait for that! :)

The 18-Month Mark

We have reached another milestone today as our wedding ticker says that we have 18 months left before our wedding day! Yey! :)

Oh how time flies! Mox and I got engaged in November 2011, but we started booking suppliers last March, which was still more than two years from our wedding. Back then, we were too embarrassed to say our real wedding date because our friends and most suppliers would not take us seriously then. In fact, we were among the first batch of 2014 brides in W@W. But now, there are already a lot of brides planning to marry in 2014. I even met some who have the same date as we do! See, hindi lang kami ang mga excited!

I am happy to announce that we have booked most, if not all, of our major suppliers already.

• Church: Christ the King Church
• Reception Venue: Christ the King Parish Hall
• Photo: Osep&Mimi
• Video: Aisle 1401
• OTD: The One Exclusive
• Caterer: Richgold Weddings
• Wedding Gown Couturier: Jeff House of Fashion
• HMUA: Style Me Beautiful by Berny Tia
• Band (Church and Reception): Composed Band

We were also able to get some nice-to-haves as well care of our caterer and OTD.

• Hotel for Wedding Night: Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel c/o Richgold Weddings
• Mobile Bar: Three cocktail mixes c/o Richgold Weddings
• Bridal Car: Mercedes Benz E220 c/o Richgold Weddings
• Photobooth: Two hours of photobooth c/o Richgold Weddings
• Souvenirs: 100 pieces of cupcakes c/o Richgold Weddings
• Wedding Cake: 6" cutting cake c/o Richgold Weddings
• Emcee: Thoffy Consulta c/o The One Exclusive

Now here are some of the suppliers that we plan to book before the year ends.

• Lights and Sounds: Rejectkrew
• Boudoir Photographer: Boudoir le Blanc

Although we still have a long way to go, I'm still relieved that at least we were able to lock in the rates of these suppliers and save money. 2013 is just around the corner, so I'm happy to cross these things off my list and just focus on the little details, such as our DIYs and my diet plan. Haha! :)

The Two-Year Mark

Since it is already April, that means we've finally reached the two-year mark of our wedding preparations! (Technically, my ticker says I still have two years, three weeks and one day left, but who's counting right? Haha.) Our wedding preps are now in full swing and we have a very busy schedule ahead of us:

• April 13: Meeting with Blissfully Hitched (OTD) and Aisle 1401 (Videographer)
• April 14: Meeting with The One Exclusive (OTD)
• April 20: Food tasting with Ma Del's Cuisine (Caterer)
• April 29: Food tasting with Patio de Tata Roque (Caterer)

 Hopefully before this month ends, we would have already booked our OTD coordinator and videographer. That way, we could finally cross out three items (photo, video and coordinator) from our checklist. Afterwards, we'll slow down for a bit to save money for their payments. Baka book kami ng book, wala naman pala kaming pambayad. Haha.

But in the meantime, it is time to relax. Tonight, we'll be on our way to Ilocos to visit my paternal grandmother. After that, it's beach time baby! :)

Two years to go before the big day! :)